Center your story around someone who’s being haunted — by what or whom is up to you.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 1, 2024

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✍️ 101 stories

“When the Iceman Calls” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #275

The knock on the apartment door was so loud that it sounded like rapid-fire gunshots. Simon woke up instantly, and then lay frozen still in his bed though his heart was pounding out of his chest. It was like waking to a nightmare. Bang, bang, again, “Open up, Garcia, open up, this is the Federal Immigration Enforcement Agency, open up the door now”. Simon reached for the wall switch and the naked bulb bleached the room with cold white light. It was 3.15 a.m., according to his alarm clock. He prayed for deliveran...

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“Ghosts Like Us” by Jess Kent

Submitted to Contest #275

She dropped the letter and watched in dismay as the blood-red words swirled towards the ground. Dear God. She thought paralyzed in fear, He found me. Shaking, she reached one hand out for the back of her friend’s chair and held her other one to her chest, as if she could keep her heart from leaping from her body. It’s been seventeen years since she heard from him. Seventeen years of paranoid peace and illusory safety. “Adrianne?” Sharon walked into the kitchen with a curious frown on her weathered face. “Are you ok, honey? You look like you’...

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“Live, Laugh, Love, Die” by Vladimir Stefan

Submitted to Contest #275

The year was 2060.Tropical weather brought on by climate change blessed southside London with a 40-degree dry and hot day in April. Inside a recently refurbished one-bedroom flat, four friends pose as a polyamorous unit. One of them brings a bottle of vegan, grape-free champagne onto the coffee table, landing it with a thud.“Right,” says Brandon, “Should we celebrate, then?”The other three raise their glasses, and Brandon pours an equal amount into each. After filling his, he raises it high, and whilst standing up, he scans the living room w...

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“The Father-In-Law” by Emily Miles

Submitted to Contest #275

Your head already felt like a suitcase that was overflowing and couldn’t be zipped. You didn’t need one more thing to stuff in there. But that had to be his footsteps, it just had to be.“B, is that you? What do you want?” you shout upstairs. Why was he here? HOW was he here? Was he in his first room, trying to find something, his crooked glasses he would constantly tape together, or that misplaced document that Emre had been looking for? You didn’t even know if you believed in ghosts. You were taught all your life that halloween is bad, ghos...

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“The Watcher's Hour” by Sophia Nguyen

Submitted to Contest #275

I turned the pocket watch over in my palm and inspected it in the candlelight, its gold casing tarnished and stained by age, a delicate thread of a crack splintering the glass. I was pleased with my discovery, despite its broken state. Antiques fascinated me—it was what brought me to this desolate town in the first place, its Victorian Gothic charm. All the houses here seemed to be preserved in an entirely different century, the neighbors elusive, with the neighborhood cloaked under a constant, suffocating fog. The previous owner of the hous...

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“Dream Journal” by Del V

Submitted to Contest #275

19-12 -1974 I was 10 years old that day. I was playing in the living room. My house was a small one so I open the entrance door to feel more spacious inside. But when I opened it, I saw in the far outside my house fence. I saw her. An old woman with white hair pulled back using a traditional clothes like my grandmother. when I met her eyes, I was stunt and can not move. I am so afraid.The urge to let go from her eye and shout to call my mother because I was so scared.But my voice was gone. I tried once more but nothing came out fr...

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“Haunted.” by Tawny Molina

Submitted to Contest #275

"Do you really think that is going to work?" the voice echoed through Margeret's ears. The never-ending teasing tone seemed to have followed her since she had left the house that morning. Why she was being stalked was beyond her imagination, and who was doing it even further from her knowledge. Did she know this disembodied voice? Was it someone fucking with her? Or was she haunted? That last one seemed quite a jump for most people, but Margeret's family wasn't most people. Her mother and grandmother often spoke of curious visions and sites...

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“To Hank - Note #2” by A.J. Williams

Submitted to Contest #275

The emptiness feels endless. When I lost our son and saw his still, lifeless body, I felt a sadness deeper than anything I’d ever known. I looked into his eyes and saw only a cold emptiness. When I needed you the most, you weren’t there. You were never there. Now, this emptiness eats me up inside, and more than ever, I just want peace—to be with our son. Hank, when you tell me, “You’re not a burden,” I know you’re lying. Living with mental illness *is* a burden. Depression drags us all down, and the only way out sometimes seems like death fo...

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“The Guillotine” by Christy Lee

Submitted to Contest #275

(Please be warned that there are quite a number of mentions of death, suicide, and weapons in this story) Some people see angel numbers. I see guillotines. As far as what this means, I was at a loss of direction. It has driven me mad over the course of two years to decipher the meaning behind why I see guillotines. It may or may not be a synchronicity as a message from the universe but why? It haunts me dawn to dusk on a day to day basis. I’ve been at wits end trying to determine the symbolism behind guillotines. I not dare mention my sighti...

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“The beginning is the end.” by Daniel Truslove

Submitted to Contest #275

He remembers her funeral, vaguely. He was too distraught to form any clear memories. But there was one thing he did remember clearly.“Here lies Beana Hughwin,” the priest boomed at the beginning of the eulogy. He knew she was already long gone though, that this husk in front of him was not his beloved.After Beana’s passing, Oscar Hughwin was consumed by grief. It was to be expected, of course. But with two young children to care for, he had no choice but to gather himself and carry on the best he could. He took ...

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“A Stone's Worth” by Angelina Tutarkova

Submitted to Contest #275

A Stone’s Worth I am standing in the doorway of Grandpa's shed, a rickety structure barely clinging to its four legs. It’s sweltering summer midday, though you wouldn’t know it from the inside with the single rhombus window Grandpa nearly nailed shut some winters ago. A chilly gust sweeps over the chipped floor tiles and lifts me with it. I float in the bubbly air, by the long burned-out corner bulb, past the bronze water tap that hasn’t run for months. Above Grandpa’s desk hangs a dark wood shelf, crowded with handwritten remed...

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“Digital Ghost” by Aaron Knight

Submitted to Contest #275

November, 2098 Zhan’s mind always awoke before the rest of his body. He was still human, and therefore needed actual rest every once in a while, but the process of shut down and unconsciousness aggravated him. It was simply lost time.Avi had explained the mechanics of it to him before, and as with most things, it was the overseer’s logic that had calmed him. It was Zhan’s mind that interpreted the random images from the crystallized carbon structures that made up the nodes of the quantum computer that ran the lightning farm. The process ...

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“Pillow Talk” by Anthony Andrés

Submitted to Contest #275

Note: This story contains sensitive topics such as mental health and suicide. "Not again!" Vance groaned. He gently tossed in bed in a feeble attempt to find the elusive position to bring back the sleep. He burrowed his head underneath the pillow to mute his wife's late-night mutterings to little success. He turned to face the nightstand to see the clock, its red glow taunting his sleep-deprived mind: it was 2:12 am. Vance sat up, resigned that it would be a while before he could fall asleep again. He observed his wife, Leah, still tal...

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“Sink or Swim by Aditi Agina” by Aditi Agina

Submitted to Contest #275

Sink or SwimBy Aditi Agina The church was beautiful. It was decorated with bubble gum pink streamers and rainbow confetti. Gold balloons hung to the ceilings, shifting slightly with the tide of the wind. If it wasn’t for the attendees in black, Marcus might have assumed he had come to the wrong place. He clutched the memorial card tight in his fist and made his way to the very back of the church. The service had been over for an hour now but almost everyone had stayed. They sat silently and listened to a speaker blast various Kidzbop songs. ...

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“Belle Nessa - A Gothic Story” by Ananya Voss

Submitted to Contest #275

How much did other journalists have to beg the editor to write a story? "I will come back with THE story, a wonderful one, an honest, personal account from the reserved Belle Nessa, perhaps her last with her illness.” The breeze from outside clamoured up and she opened her eyes. ”I close the windows, foggy now” the Uber driver stiffly explained. The air stifled and clasped at her throat and she felt dizzy.“The air conditioner please!” The driver sighed loudly, but he turned the air conditioner on low. The mist enveloped the car graduall...

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Center your story around someone who’s being haunted — by what or whom is up to you.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 101 stories

“When the Iceman Calls” by Luca King Greek

“Ghosts Like Us” by Jess Kent

“Live, Laugh, Love, Die” by Vladimir Stefan

“The Father-In-Law” by Emily Miles

“The Watcher's Hour” by Sophia Nguyen

“Dream Journal” by Del V

“Haunted.” by Tawny Molina

“To Hank - Note #2” by A.J. Williams

“The Guillotine” by Christy Lee

“The beginning is the end.” by Daniel Truslove

“A Stone's Worth” by Angelina Tutarkova

“Digital Ghost” by Aaron Knight

“Pillow Talk” by Anthony Andrés

“Sink or Swim by Aditi Agina” by Aditi Agina

“Belle Nessa - A Gothic Story” by Ananya Voss

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story from the point of view of a witch, spirit, or corpse.

Start your story with a character being led somewhere by a black cat.

Write a story about someone who’s running out of time.

Write a story that includes the line “Better late than never.”

Contest #275

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

389

Contest entries

170

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: